I wasn't sure what section to post this in but I felt it was worthy of a thread. I was carrying during the encounter (with CHL) but it had nothing at all to do with the incident which is why I didn't post it in the CHL section. I must say, HPD did a great job and I was pleasantly surprised.
Few nights ago my wife, daughter, and I had ran by Taco Bell to grab a bite to eat. As I went through the drive-thru I noticed I didn't have any cash so I was forced into using my debit card. I try hard not to use my card at such places because of the growing threat of identity theft. So we order, I pull up to the window, and I notice that the cashier is acting a bit nervous and is keeping my card for an unusual amount of time. I immediately become suspicious so I closely watch all of her movements and eventually get her name. She swiped the card out of my field of view, set it down, and just before completing the transaction she calmly folded up a small piece of paper, shoved it in her pocket, and glanced around at the other employees. To me it looked like she was looking around to see if anyone was looking at her. So I got her name, took my food and pulled around to the parking lot and immediately went inside. Left my wife and daughter in the truck so they could eat.
I asked for the manager, pulled him aside, and told him what had just happened. He told me I was crazy. Said he was sure that nothing had happened, I was crazy, but he would check into it. Not immediately check into it, mind you, but that he would somehow "check into it" "at some point" and he asked if he could keep my receipt. I said OK. He told me if I found any charges on my card to notify him immediately. Is this guy serious? I started to get impatient as everything he was saying was ridiculous. I calmly let him know if he didn't pull his employee aside right then I would gladly call the police and have them resolve the situation. He looked at me if I was INSANE for even suggesting the idea and told me he was sure nothing had happened with my card and that he would check into it. He wouldn't give me much more so I told him that was unacceptable but OK, figuring I now needed to involve the police I walked out. Also, during my encounter with the manager the cashier had walked out from her drive-thru window, looked directly at me - making eye contact, and walked away.
Would you have accepted that response if you thought your credit/debit card had just been copied/stolen?
So I immediately went back out to my truck and called HPD dispatch, told them what happened, where I was at, and they said they would send over a unit. Not twenty minutes later two units show up with three officers. Quite a response IMO. So they get my story, my info, and all three go inside and pull the cashier out. They surround her and start asking questions. They then search her, check over her cell phone, get all of her information, and as it turns out she did have receipts and phone numbers in her pocket but nothing at all relating to my card. While the officers were questioning her, the manager attempted to walk outside but was instructed to go back inside. By the look on his face I think he might've s*** his pants because I saw him go straight to the bathroom after that (I'm not joking..)
My belief (and seemed to be the suggestion of the police as well) is that she probably dumped the relevant piece of paper when she saw me talking to the manager. Anyway, overall they couldn't have done a better job and I was extremely satisfied with their response time and overall professionalism. I was carrying but it wasn't at all an issue as it wasn't relevant to what was going on (nor was I being detained or anything at all like that.)
I hated to have to involve the police but the manager obviously wasn't going to do a damn thing about any of it and I couldn't risk my card being stolen if I could've stopped it. I won't be going back to that Taco Bell, for a few years.
Few nights ago my wife, daughter, and I had ran by Taco Bell to grab a bite to eat. As I went through the drive-thru I noticed I didn't have any cash so I was forced into using my debit card. I try hard not to use my card at such places because of the growing threat of identity theft. So we order, I pull up to the window, and I notice that the cashier is acting a bit nervous and is keeping my card for an unusual amount of time. I immediately become suspicious so I closely watch all of her movements and eventually get her name. She swiped the card out of my field of view, set it down, and just before completing the transaction she calmly folded up a small piece of paper, shoved it in her pocket, and glanced around at the other employees. To me it looked like she was looking around to see if anyone was looking at her. So I got her name, took my food and pulled around to the parking lot and immediately went inside. Left my wife and daughter in the truck so they could eat.
I asked for the manager, pulled him aside, and told him what had just happened. He told me I was crazy. Said he was sure that nothing had happened, I was crazy, but he would check into it. Not immediately check into it, mind you, but that he would somehow "check into it" "at some point" and he asked if he could keep my receipt. I said OK. He told me if I found any charges on my card to notify him immediately. Is this guy serious? I started to get impatient as everything he was saying was ridiculous. I calmly let him know if he didn't pull his employee aside right then I would gladly call the police and have them resolve the situation. He looked at me if I was INSANE for even suggesting the idea and told me he was sure nothing had happened with my card and that he would check into it. He wouldn't give me much more so I told him that was unacceptable but OK, figuring I now needed to involve the police I walked out. Also, during my encounter with the manager the cashier had walked out from her drive-thru window, looked directly at me - making eye contact, and walked away.
Would you have accepted that response if you thought your credit/debit card had just been copied/stolen?
So I immediately went back out to my truck and called HPD dispatch, told them what happened, where I was at, and they said they would send over a unit. Not twenty minutes later two units show up with three officers. Quite a response IMO. So they get my story, my info, and all three go inside and pull the cashier out. They surround her and start asking questions. They then search her, check over her cell phone, get all of her information, and as it turns out she did have receipts and phone numbers in her pocket but nothing at all relating to my card. While the officers were questioning her, the manager attempted to walk outside but was instructed to go back inside. By the look on his face I think he might've s*** his pants because I saw him go straight to the bathroom after that (I'm not joking..)
My belief (and seemed to be the suggestion of the police as well) is that she probably dumped the relevant piece of paper when she saw me talking to the manager. Anyway, overall they couldn't have done a better job and I was extremely satisfied with their response time and overall professionalism. I was carrying but it wasn't at all an issue as it wasn't relevant to what was going on (nor was I being detained or anything at all like that.)
I hated to have to involve the police but the manager obviously wasn't going to do a damn thing about any of it and I couldn't risk my card being stolen if I could've stopped it. I won't be going back to that Taco Bell, for a few years.